Its all the Rage, Not the Hype.

Rating: 7/10 (1 July 2003)

It truly bothers me that many viewers of this film do not find its contents frightening. Or that they find elements of the plot and structure in similar styled movies which preceded it.
An honest interpretation of this film destroys both of these false conceptions. It wasn't formed seemlessly in a vacuum. _28 Days Later..._ does indeed pay homage to the heroes of its genres whether they be the apocalyptic or more straight forward horror. This is not to say that it doesn't spin these themes around on their heads and give them us something provocatively new.
Quite simply, _28 Days Later..._ takes one of the most numbingly frightening aspects of our contemporary culture, that of blind, irrational, and implacable hatred and lets it destroy the world or most of it. Sure its an infection but lets be quick to the point here, there's a reason its called rage. No longer are the 'zombies' the dead ghouls rising to plague the living. No, these 'zombies' are very much alive, exaggeratedly so, ruthlessly fast and completely indiscriminate in their destruction. The only thing they can actively discern apparently is who doesn't share their boundless blood-lust. And all they want to do is pass it on.
Ironically the dead are the only ones at peace and the living no longer need their help finding ways to die.
This film does have its flaws (I did give it a 7 after all) but not detriments such as shameless unoriginality or lack of terror. At times it can be a bit heavy-handed, delivering its morals with a listless dull thump, exactly the kind of strikes I remember _Night of the Living Dead_ zombies making, which makes them all the more unacceptable now that Boyle has decided to usurp such creatures. The latter third of the film, the Manchester-third (without giving anything substantial away) is far from subtle and can be a bit tedious. Thankfully the breath-taking opening and terrific middle portions will be remembered for what they are and payed homage to in the future in their own right.